My Mafia Madness

Chapter 38 - Putting the Pieces Together

Poor Alexa was beyond exhausted, both mentally and physically. Perhaps that’s why she ended up falling asleep on Dante’s chest while the two relaxed in the bath together.

Deciding that she would need a solid rest before they had the dreaded ‘talk’ about what he did for a living, Dante carefully helped the dozy woman out of the bathtub and prepared her for bed.

First, he dried her down with one of the white fluffy towels before wrapping her in a long, white bathrobe.

He carried her out of this room and down several hallways until at last he reached his master bedroom.

The house had been checked over several times after the incident and he felt having Alexa in with him would be the safest thing for them both.

He pulled out one of his clean white dress shirts from his walk-in-robe and then took the time to carefully dress her in it, before lifting her up and carrying her to the bed.

Once she had been tucked in beneath the thick black and golden Versace covers, he let out a long sigh, running his hand through his dark hair at the mess they were in.

He had allowed a woman in…

This alone was dangerous for them both…

Dangerous for Alexa, as now she would become a moving target for his enemies.

And of course, dangerous for Dante because he couldn’t stand the thought of losing her. Not now.

Even the idea had caused him to feel sick inside, as if his stomach had twisted into uncomfortable knots.

She was clearly more than an assistant to him.

Much more…

-

Once Alexa was tucked in and safe once more, Dante returned to his office to check in on their planning.

Planning for their next move.

As he walked in, he noticed both Nicola and Luca were sitting together on one of the couches in the corner.

Nicola’s eyes were downcast until he noticed that his boss had entered the office.

Both he and Nicola looked up at Dante as he closed the door behind him.

It was just the three of them.

“How is she?” Nicola asked, his voice noticeably softer than it usually was.

Dante made his way over to where his best scotch sat waiting for him to pour a glass of it. He worked to prepare three glasses of it as he spoke over his shoulder.

“She’s shaken, obviously.” he reported, carrying the three glasses between his fingers.

“She’s sleeping… for now anyway.”

Nicola shook his head at the thought of Alexa finding his brother’s severed hand like that.

“Those spineless bastards.” he muttered, reaching out as Dante handed him a glass.

“I swear to god I’m gonna kill them all for this. Every last f*****g one of them.”

“Patience, Nicola.” Dante reminded, handing the third glass to Luca, who nodded in thanks.

“You will have your vengeance, Nicola. We will all have our vengeance…”

Dante took a sip from his scotch on the rocks before adding one final comment.

“All we have to do is make sure we stick to the plan.”

-

Alonzo Greco was feeling quite pleased with himself, after hearing about how his recent ‘gift’ had caused the entire Romano safehouse to go into a panicked frenzy.

Not only that, but apparently Dante’s woman was the one who first found the gift!

That made it even more tantalising for Alonzo.

That would have really pissed the Reaper off.

He wished he could have seen the look on Nicola Russo’s big, dumb face the moment he recoignised the rose tattoo inked onto the severed hand.

The moment he’d realised just who the hand had once belonged to.

Poor little Bruno Russo, he’d put up quite the fight against the Greco’s interrogation methods, insisting that he’d never betray the Romano family, out of loyalty to his big brother, Nicola.

Not that it mattered… a man can only handle so much before they start squealing like a pig!

“Hey boss.”

Romeo greeted Alonzo as he strode confidently into the room and sat down on the seat opposite him.

“I hear your gift was a success.”

Alonzo gave a dark chuckle in response.

“That it was… maybe next time I’ll send his f*****g head.”

Romeo grinned as he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a packet of cigarettes, lighting one and taking in a long drag of its soothing smoke.

“The kid’s down in our lock up.” the second-in-command went on to explain.

“Our physician Donnie managed to stop him from bleeding out. Had a good old time cauterising the wound and all. Kid practically screamed the place down.”

“Aww…” Alonzo feigned sympathy before grinning.

“Sending him a message is one thing, Romeo. I want something more…”

Romeo narrowed his eyes, leaning forward on his seat so that both his arms were resting on either of his knees as he listened intently to his boss’ idea.

“Do tell.”

Alonzo lifted up his glass of fresh tequila, taking a sip and lifting his head proudly as he spoke his reply with a dark and sadistic tone.

“The girl.”

Romeo’s left brow lifted in question.

“What girl?”

But the very moment he had asked the question, Romeo realised just who his boss had referred to and his eyes widened.

“The Reaper’s girl?”

Alonzo gave a single nod in response.

Nodding his head, Romeo lowered his gaze and took another long drag of his cigarette to try and calm himself.

“It won’t be easy. He’s got her locked away and under strict supervision at all times. They’re over in Chicago right now from what I hear.”

Alonzo swirled his glass around, watching as the liquid moved.

“Then get creative Romeo. I want her here, alive and unharmed.”

“Unharmed?” Romeo reiterated with a concerned frown.

Alonzo merely shrugged his shoulders with a smirk.

“Well, as unharmed as you can manage.”

Romeo gave a short laugh before he put out the cigarette in the nearby ashtray, then standing up and straightening his suit jacket.

“Give me forty-eight hours. You’ll have her.”

With that Romeo turned on his heel and strode back out through the doorway, leaving Alonzo alone once more.

He recalled what his father Raphael had said about this mystery woman.

‘I’m telling you son… that girl is our key to bringing down the entire Romano Empire, once and for all. I can feel it… She alone is his weakness…’

It was time for him to take on such wisdom and hit the Reaper where it really hurt the most.

But first, he would need to get his hands on Alexa.

-

It was early the next morning when Alexa happened to finally wake from her incredible sleep; one she apparently needed.

As she peered around at the seemingly empty room, Alexa quickly came to recoignise it as Dante’s master bedroom.

He must have brought her here after they finished their bath last night.

She had some faded memories of Dante caring for her last night, drying her off with a towel and carefully dressing her.

Looking down, she realised that she was wearing one of his white dress shirts.

Smiling, she tilted her head to the side to try and smell it but instead frowned.

It didn’t smell of his scent like she thought it would... no, instead it smelled clean.

He’d given her one of his clean shirts?

Deciding to get out of bed and have a shower, she flipped the covers off her legs and slid off the mattress, onto the carpeted floor below.

His woodsy cologne still lingered in the air around her as she made her way into the large ensuite and switched on the light.

After showering herself and locating something pretty to wear in his walk-in robe, Alexa could feel her stomach growling with hunger and she decided to make her way down towards the kitchen for some breakfast.

-

Arriving in the open plan kitchen, Alexa found it almost completely empty… almost.

There, seated at the kitchen island counter on one of the stools was Nicola, staring down into a white mug on the counter in front of him.

Alexa, having no idea of whom the severed hand had belonged to like everyone else, had no idea of why this usually intimidatingly massive man now seemed so small.

As if he were attempting to hide from the entire world for some reason.

“Good morning, Nicola.”

Alexa spoke kindly, making her way across to the bench to make herself a nice hot espresso with the fancy machine.

Hearing her voice, Nicola lifted his head and met her gaze with a forced smile.

“Good morning piccolo.” (little one) he replied softly, using his cute little nickname for Alexa.

It made her smile as she switched on the coffee espresso machine.

The smell of fresh coffee beans in the morning always made her feel better. That and the sound of the ocean waves, but she was too far away from the coast to hear such sounds.

The smell would have to do.

“How was your sleep?” Nicola asked her from his hunched over position.

She could hear it in his voice; the sadness overwhelming him.

She immediately turned to face him with an expression of concern.

“Nicola, what’s wrong?”

He seemed surprised by her question, lowering his gaze as he held both sides of his cup.

“It’s nothing, Alexa. Don’t burden yourself with my problems.”

A frown took over as Alexa narrowed her eyes at him.

“Then you don’t know me at all, do you?” she quizzed with raised brows as she turned around and finished making her espresso.

Nicola watched as Dante’s assistant came to sit down on the stool beside him with her freshly made espresso in hand.

“Now, I want you tell me everything.” she prompted confidently.

He furrowed his brows back at her.

“Everything about what?”

“Whatever has you sitting here in a slump. Come on, I’m actually really good to talk to.”

Nicola suddenly seemed hesitant, turning his head away from her and pursing his lips together.

“Come on Nicola. How are we going to get to know one and other better if you don’t talk to me?” she pushed softly.

With a large sigh, Nicola decided to give her some of the details, instead of all of them.

The less she knew, the better it would be for her.

“I… recently lost someone… very special to me.” he replied before lifting his mug up and taking a big swig from it.

“Oh…”

She immediately backed off a little, feeling silly for pressing the matter now.

“Nicola, I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to-”

“-It’s alright piccolo. (little one) I know.” he cut in with a nod to her.

Now she didn’t know if she should say anything further on the matter, or if it would only cause too much pain for him to pry.

She took a sip from her drink, lowered it and then heard him speak.

“He was my little brother.” Nicola announced softly.

She turned to face him, listening as he opened up to her.

“His name was Bruno. He was only nineteen.” Nicola sniffed and continued.

“I haven’t seen him in over a year. But the last time I did, I can recall him telling me about how excited he was to do what I do. The kind of work I do…”

Alexa remembered the severed hand and how Nicola and the others had all arrived with guns drawn when she found it.

Several pieces began falling into place as she put two and two together to figure out that Nicola and the other men were into something dangerous.

And he had mentioned the Mafia in their earlier conversation, back at the warehouse the night she had signed her contract.

The thought entered her mind, but she pushed it aside with disbelief.

There was no way these men were part of something dark and seedy such as the Mafia!

Especially Dante.

Now it was Nicola who noticed Alexa was worried about something, from her posture and the expression on her face as she sat in a new silence.

“What’s eating away at you?” he asked, bumping her shoulder playfully.

She turned to face him, then noticing the gun holstered to his belt between them.

That was another thing; these men always carried guns.

Everywhere they went!

Why would businessmen need guns?

Gathering together what little courage she still held onto, she decided to ask the dreaded question; one that could change her entire world in a second.

“Nicola… I want to ask you something. And I want you to be completely honest with me, no matter how you think I might react. Got it?”

He noticed how serious her expression was now and nodded slowly.

Swallowing nervously, Alexa went to ask her question.

“Do you guys work for the M-”

The sound of men’s voices cut her off before she could finish her question and Alexa promptly closed her mouth as she looked over to see both Luca and Stefano entering the kitchen area.

The two were in a conversation of their own.

With them here, Alexa didn’t feel she would get an honest answer out of Nicola, and she got down from her stool.

Frowning in confusion, Nicola called out to her.

“Hey, what about your question?”

She stopped and turned around to face him with a forced smile.

“Maybe another time.”

With that she turned and exited the kitchen, taking the espresso up with her to her room.

She needed some time alone to think.